Chapter twenty-five
I got back to my apartment and stumbled inside, not bothering to lock the door behind me. I went right to my fridge, dragged out the half a bottle of wine that I remembered leaving behind, and poured myself a full glass. It tasted rather off from spending the last couple of weeks open in her fridge, but it was better than no wine at all. I drank it.
After I'd finished the first glass of wine, I poured myself another, but carried this one carefully into the little dining room area. I set it down on my table, took a seat in the chair next to it, and stared at it.
Good job, Katy, I thought to myself. My first job out of college, working with an amazing team and doing something truly fulfilling, and I'd managed to get myself fired in disgrace and scandal after barely a month.
What next? Maybe I could start a fire at the next place that offered me an interview, burn their entire business to the ground. That would be fitting.
Still, I didn't disagree with my decision. I couldn't have let the secret go, not after what Miranda had pointed out to me, not after thinking about it for so long. I'd scarcely known for more than a few days, at least for certain, and the secret had already started eating away at me from the inside.
I couldn't have repressed it forever.
And now, my decision to stick to the truth, to not roll over and just let Benson and the others bury the secret, might end up putting me out on the street because I couldn't find another job. I wondered whether Miranda might let me move in with her. Surely, she made enough money to support a roommate, and maybe I could cook for her or something? I'd just need to learn how to cook, and I'd be set.
I still didn't know what I should do next. Is this the time when I ought to go to the press, tell my story? Benson had made it very clear that he would do his best to kill any story that I tried to publish. He also, I suspected, would make very certain that all of his employees, all of the equipment managers, coaches, and assistants, kept their mouths shut.
I'd have no one on my side if I tried to take this story public.
In other words, I didn't stand a chance.
I sighed as I took a big gulp of my next glass of wine, not caring about the slightly off-putting taste. So much for Chase's message to not worry, I thought to myself. If only I'd kept my mouth shut, or he hadn't said anything to Benson, I might still have a job-
"So, this is your place."
My head shot up, and I nearly spat my mouthful of wine across my apartment as my eyes shot to the front door.
The door now stood open, and Chase stood leaning against the doorframe, his arms casually crossed as he took in the apartment's messiness. "Somehow, it kind of fits you," he commented, as I did my best not to choke. "Cluttered and messy, but comfortable and lived-in."
"You think I seem lived-in?" I managed to get out, once I forced the burning mouthful of wine back down my throat. "Oh my god, what are you doing here?"
He shrugged, still leaning against the doorframe. "You know, worried that you might go crazy after being fired and decide to jump off a bridge or something," he said casually, although his eyes, locked on me, looked anything but casual.
"I'm not going to go crazy and jump off a bridge." It was true that I didn't know what I would do now, having just lost my only job, but I didn't think I was suicidal. "How did you find my place?"
"Miranda told me."
"Okay- wait, how did you get in contact with Miranda?"
Chase grinned. "Turns out that DeShaun had her number."
Figures, I thought to myself. Given the opportunity to hook up with a football player, Miranda wouldn't have hesitated. That made one of us, I guess. "Well, I don't need you here rubbing in that I got fired. I just need to figure out what I'm going to do next with my life."
Chase took a step towards me. "Well, that makes two of us."
My head jerked up at that unexpected response. "Two of us? What do you mean?"
"I mean," he said patiently, taking another step forward, "that we both need to work out what we're going to do with all of our unexpected free time." His eyes suddenly lit up as a familiar, sexy smirk appeared on his face. "And I've got a couple ideas."
I still didn't understand. "But you've got football games - a Superbowl coming up that you're going to win-"
"Nope."
I stared at him, feeling like my head was full of cotton wool. "Chase, what's going on?"
"I thought about things, about what you said, about how I looked at myself," he explained, still advancing towards me. He was almost close enough to reach out and touch me, now. "I took a good, hard look at myself, and I realized that I didn't want to think of myself as a cheater, even if doing so would help me win."
I couldn't believe it. "But football's all you care about! You can't walk away from that-"
He shook his head. "No. Football's all I've ever done. And if I only achieved my success in football this year from cheating, that doesn't reflect too well on me."
"But Benson and Muskgrave want to just sweep the whole thing aside-"
"And they'll try," he finished my sentence. "But I'm going to go to the league and come clean. I'll probably face a suspension, at the minimum, and I'm not getting back on the Hawks after this. But at least I'll be honest, I'll make the right choice for once."
"For once?" I echoed.
So close that he had to look down at me, now, Chase shook his head. "I've made a lot of bad choices in my past," he said softly, as his hands settled gently on my waist, tugging me ever so softly towards him. "I think it's time for me to start making some better ones."
I stared back at him, my mouth slightly open but not knowing what to say - which made it perfectly positioned for him to bend down and kiss me.
Chase didn't waste that opportunity.
I kissed him back, fiercely, squeezing him towards me as he took me in his arms. Suddenly, all of my emotions welled up, rushing through me and making my eyes water. This man had just thrown away his career, his fame, because I told him to do the right thing. He'd been faced with a choice between success and doing the right thing, and he chose to do the right thing.
He chose to change, because of me.
I pulled away from the kiss to stare up into his face, my eyes glimmering with unshed tears. "You're going to get in a lot of trouble," I had to point out, my voice sounding a little thick.
He just shrugged. "I'm always in trouble for something. The tabloids will go crazy over it, but at least I won't get calls from my mom complaining about how she can see my wee-wee in the supermarket."
Despite the tears, I burst out laughing at his words. Chase laughed along with me, but his laughter soon faded.
"And I want you to come with me when I go to the league officials," he added.
"Me? Why me?"
"You were the one who found out about this, uncovered it all," he said. "And I want you there. You've kept me out of trouble since you showed up in my life - maybe you can help do the same now."
"I've kept you out of trouble?" I snorted. "You've been dragging me into trouble at every step! Kissing me in clubs, getting me drunk, getting me fired for discovering your cheating scandal-"
"You've liked it," he pointed out.
I tried to frown, although the corners of my mouth didn't want to go down. "Maybe."
"I bet there are other acts of trouble that you'd like." How did he do it? His eyes had clicked from soft and comforting over to hot and smoky, without any sort of intermediate stage between the two looks.
I felt a rush of warmth run through my body, starting from his fingers on my hips. "I don't know what you're talking about."
He kissed me again, this time pulling me up to my tiptoes as I pressed against him. His hand on my back slid down, curling around my ass and squeezing, pulling my hips up against his. I could feel his hard body through his jeans and shirt, the heat of him radiating out and into me. His tongue parted my lips as it explored me, tasting me, and I eagerly reciprocated.
Both of us
were breathing hard when we broke apart from the kiss, and Chase glanced around my apartment. I could guess what he was looking for.
"The bedroom's through that door," I gasped out to him, pointing.
He shook his head. "No time." His arms tightened around me, and I landed on my couch an instant later, with him close behind.
This wasn't the first time that the two of us had ended up together on a couch or some other soft surface, making out, but the air felt charged with electricity this time, different and exciting. Before, we'd always stopped, Chase respecting my wishes to not yet go all the way, to not have sex.
But now, I wanted him, more than ever before. Even as he dropped down on top of me, my hands clawed at his clothes, clumsily pulling them down and exposing the hard body beneath. He reciprocated, his hands sliding up to push my shirt up under my armpits.
"Katy," Chase murmured, as he bent to trace a line of kisses down my neck, down to my chest, to where my bra strained to hold back my breasts from bursting out.
I shivered as I felt his warm lips, his soft tongue, running over my sensitive skin. I loved how he said my name, filled with warmth. "Again," I whispered to him, as I ran my hands through his thick hair.
"Katy." The word rose up from between my breasts, and I answered it with a wordless moan as he flicked his tongue over one erect nipple. His hands slid back under me, finding the clasp to my bra and effortlessly popping it open. I shrugged, and the straps dropped off of my shoulders. "Katy."
He kept on descending down, leaving kisses and warm spots behind him, dropping to where he'd already popped the button on my jeans. "Katy," he murmured up from just above my crotch, as his fingers explored around my thighs, teasing them open.
I tried to sit up, but his hand on my chest pushed me back down, even as his head dropped down out of view until only the top of his hair was visible. He kissed me again, this time in much more sensitive and intimate areas, and my gasp contained new levels of need, of raw desire. He might have whispered my name one last time, but all I felt was his mouth on me, sending waves and explosions through me.
I closed my eyes, still seeing the fireworks go off behind my closed eyelids. My hands grabbed at him, guiding him in, pushing him deeper as he nibbled and licked and explored me until I couldn't hold back any longer.
"Oh, Chase!" I cried out, as I lost control, my body shaking.
He rose up, his lips gleaming, and I lunged for him. No more control - I needed him, now, far too strongly for me to think of anything else but him inside me.
Chapter twenty-six
Chase rose up, and I lunged for him. He might be twice my size, but I still hit him and tackled him off the couch, down to the floor, just from pure hunger and lust!
My hands felt clumsy, but he helped me remove the rest of my clothing, and then his. I threw my legs over him, straddling him, feeling his hardness down between my thighs, rubbing up against me. I pushed down against it, just sliding back and forth over his length. I watched his face, loved how his eyes rolled back in his head as he felt me pushing against him.
"Oh, Katy." His hands rose up, first squeezing my breasts, flicking across my nipples and making me moan, and then circling around my neck. He pulled me down so that he could shove his tongue into my mouth, the swells of my breasts rubbing lightly across his chest as I bent forward.
I rocked my hips back and forth, feeling him. He was so big, so hard, I almost didn't know if he would fit inside me - but I had to try, had to experience it. My hand reached down between my legs, grasping his hard cock, guiding it to my entrance.
Chase moved with me, positioning himself. I pushed down against him as he slid up, and I moaned aloud again as I felt him enter me, so big and powerful and dominating. I saw his eyes widen below me, as well, but those eyes were warm, caring.
"Talk to me," I begged him, as I slumped forward, impaled on him. "Tell me that you want me."
His arms encircled me, but then slid down so that he could hold my hips, guiding me as I rocked back and forth on him, feeling him move inside of me. "Oh, Katy," he whispered back to me. "I've wanted you since the moment I met you, more than anyone else."
He pulled me in for a kiss, but his hips kept on moving. He held my lips against him, feeling them pull open as I gasped with delight at the new sensations. "And now, I don't want anyone else," he whispered to me, his lips only inches from my own. "No one else understands, knows the true me, like you do."
I silenced him then, leaning forward and pushing him back into the couch. He gave way, still rising and falling beneath me as I rode the waves of pleasure. I could feel him, wet and hard inside of me, pulsing as he claimed me as his own. His fingers dug deeply into my hips, and I felt as though he was using me.
I loved it. I wanted more, needed more. All of my emotions over the last few weeks - my lust for Chase, my anger at discovering the cheating going on behind the scenes, my growing fear of being fired, and then my sudden realization of how much I truly needed Chase, how much of myself I'd shared with him as he opened up to me - they all melted away. In their place I felt completeness, satisfaction in a way that I couldn't remember feeling for a long time.
But now, I needed one thing more. I needed to bring myself to completion, and to feel Chase release inside of me.
I rode him for a few minutes, but I could sense his energy, itching to be unleashed. I rolled off of him, feeling a pang of regret as he slid out of me, but he quickly moved on top and plunged back inside, hitting me with a new burst of pleasure.
This time, now, he was in control. He dominated me, pinning my hands down, making me a slave to his moves and urges. I grinned up at him, a new warmth blooming in my chest each time I looked at him. I saw that warmth reflected back and amplified in his eyes as our bodies came together.
My pleasure kept on rising, the waves lapping higher and higher inside of me. I gritted my teeth, tried to ride it out and hold back, but I could no more have held back the ocean. "Oh, Chase, I'm about to come!" I gasped out, as he thrust himself powerfully inside of me, filling me to my brim.
"Do it," he commanded, his breath coming hard and fast, and I obeyed his command.
My eyes squeezed shut, and stars burst in my vision. I felt almost disassociated from my body, feeling myself twitch as ecstasy rushed through me. "Oh god," I cried out, my hands clawing at Chase, pulling him tighter against me. I wanted to feel his muscles, his body, pushing against me and inside of me.
He shivered at my touch as I drew him in, and I realized that he was also on the brink. "Katy," he gasped, his breath hot against my ear, and I felt his entire body stiffen as he pushed against me, as he filled my insides.
We both rode out our orgasms together, holding each other, kissing each other, clutching at each other as though there was no one else in the world. I've come before, even with other men, but never like this. Not with the pleasure wiping away everything else in the world, not with a man who simultaneously drove me crazy when he was around and drove me even crazier with his absence.
Finally, after what felt like hours, I managed to open my eyes, looking through soft slits at the man still laying on top of me. Perhaps feeling my eyelashes brush against him, Chase also stirred, although he leaned in to kiss the curve of my neck, making me instantly want him again.
"I love you," he whispered as he nuzzled at my neck.
I froze for a moment. "What?"
"I love you," he repeated, lifting himself up a little and looking down into my eyes. "And yes, I'm serious. Deal with it."
I stared at the man still inside me, the man who had driven me absolutely crazy for the last few weeks. "Chase, how do you-"
"You drive me crazy whenever I'm with you, and I can't think of anything but you when we're apart," he told me, interspersing his words with kisses. "You understand me like no one else, and I quit my dream job to chase after you. I don't know how you did it, Katy, but you broke me, and now I love you."
It sounded crazy. Anyone else would be push
ing Chase back, putting some distance between the two of us. But as I looked up at this big powerful man lying on me, the man who simultaneously drove me crazy and made me feel more wanted and important than anyone else, I felt an answering rush of emotion.
"I love you too, you ass," I said, and I knew the words were true as they came out.
Chase just grinned back at me, kissing me in a manner that left no doubt about the authenticity of his feelings.
He rose up enough so that we could both sit up on the couch, still finding our balance after the disorienting experience we'd both shared. I smiled at him, hungrily running my eyes over his body, and I saw him doing the same to me.
Once I'd sat up, I realized with a start that my door still sat open! "Oh my god, the door's open!" I exclaimed, hopping up and rushing over to shut it before anyone wandered past and caught a glimpse of us in our full, naked glory!
It wasn't until I'd closed the door and turned back around that I saw Chase grinning at me. "What?" I demanded, putting my hands on my hips.
"Nothing," he tried to reply, but I wouldn't let it go.
"Come on, tell me."
He gave in with a shrug. "When you run, there's a lot of jiggling," he commented. He rose up from the couch as I blushed, moving in towards me as stealthily as a shark. "I love watching you jiggle for me."
"You know, we need to go talk to the league officials," I murmured, as he wrapped me up in his arms again. "We can't just stay in here and keep doing this forever."
"Way ahead of you. We have an appointment with them tomorrow morning. All we have to do between then and now is plan out our story."
"Well, we should work on that, then," I said, not fighting against his arms as he held me close to him.
"We can do other things at the same time."
I did my best to appear reluctant. "I've never been a good multi-tasker," I demurred.
Chase tugged me towards my bedroom. "I'll teach you. I can be very distracting."
His hands were still around me, but they'd wandered to areas that confirmed his words. I shivered as they rubbed over me. "Don't you need to wait a while before you're ready to, um, go again?"
SACK: A Football Bad Boy Romance Page 15
